Cable reels



L. F. NELSON May 7, 1968 CABLE HEELS Filed May 31, 1966 INVENTOR. LOWELL F. NELSON ATTORNW United States Patent 3,381,915 CABLE REELS Lowell F. Nelson, Muskegon, Mich, assignor to John Wood Company, East Orange, N.J., a corporation of Delaware Filed May 31, 1966, Ser. No. 553,934 1 Claim. (Cl. 242107) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A reel for reeling and unreeling a flexible cable, such as nylon cable attached at its distal end to a gasoline dispensing hose, with the helical coiled spring member of the reel having three intermediate widely spaced coils between the inner and outer closely wound coils of said helical spring.

My invention relates to cable reels, and more particularly to a cable reel adapted to be positioned within the housing of a gasoline dispensing pump to provide means for reeling and unreeling flexible cable, such as a nylon cable, the outer end of which is outside the housing and is adapted to be connected to a clamp fastened around a loop of the gasoline dispensing hose which has a nozzle at its distal end.

One feature of my invention is that the construction eliminates the need for separate bearings within the reel casing and cover to support the arbor for the reel.

Another feature of my improved reel is that it eliminates the numerous separate brackets, sleeve and pin which are normally used in a reel construction for attachment of the spring to the case and to the arbor.

Another feature of my invention is that my improved reel is so designed that all of the components will nest together in a specific sequence, and be retained in position by the application of snap rings at the two outside extending portions of the reel so as to form the reel as a rigid assembly.

Another feature of my invention is that the spring thereof has three intermediate coils which enable the reel to operate through hundreds of thousands of cycles without failure from metal fatigue, or from free recoiling.

Another feature of my invention is that the reel is so designed that it may be manufactured economically and assembled very facilely.

My invention includes the various novel features of construction and arrangement hereinafter more definitely specified with respect to the accompanying drawings.

In said drawings:

FIG. 1 is an elevation view of the reel with the front cover removed.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view, partly in elevation, of the structure shown in FIG. 1, but with the cover shown in position on the housing.

FIG. 3 is an elevation view of the arbor for the reel.

FIG. 4 is an elevation view of the cover for the reel housing.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of the cover shown in FIG. 4 taken on the lines 55 in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is an end view of the arbor on which the reel is mounted.

The reel includes the main housing 1 which is of cylindrical configuration, and includes a rear wall 2 provided with an extended peripheral flange shoulder 3, a horizontal portion 4, as in FIG. 2, around which the cable is adapted to be wound, and a front peripheral flange shoulder 3a. The rear wall closure 2 is provided with a boss 5 provided with a cylindrical opening 6 through which the arbor 8 extends. The front cover 9 is provided with an axial bearing opening 10 formed in an enlarged thicker portion 11.

The reduced inner end portion 12 of the arbor 8 is provided with a recess groove 13 adapted to receive a snap ring 14, as best shown in FIG. 2. The left hand end of the arbor 8, as in FIG. 3, is also provided with a reduced portion 16 adapted to fit into the bearing opening 10 in the thicker portion 11. The outer portion 16 is also provided with a groove 18 adapted to receive a snap ring 20 of the same well-known type as the snap ring 14. The inner end of the arbor 8 is conveniently provided with a reduced diameter screw threaded portion 21 adapted to be inserted in a supporting bracket member (not shown) and rigidly secured thereto by a nut engaging the screw threaded portion 21.

The helically coiled spring 25, having three intermediate coils 25 sits within the opening 26 of the housing 1. The inner end of the spring 25 is bent back upon itself as shown at 30 in FIG. 1, to engage the shoulder 32 formed on the arbor 8. The outer end 35 of the spring 25 is bent substantially at right angles to the outside convolution of the spring, said bent outer end 35 being adapted to engage the lug-like portion 36 formed in the inside of the wall 4 of the housing 1. The three widely spaced intermediate coils 25 as shown in FIG. 1, between closely wound coil wraps on the arbor 8 and the outer wraps, give to the spring 25 the desired pre-load characteristics and constant rate of pull out. The intermediate coils 25 enable the spring 25 to operate through hundreds of thousands of cycles without failure from metal fatigue or failure of free recoiling.

The cover 9 is positioned in the annular recess groove 38 formed in the front of the wall 4. The cover 9 may be held in position by any convenient means, such as by pin means or screw means, and is positioned in the groove 38 by means of the lugs 40 engaged in the notches 41 formed in the cover 9. The peripheral flange shoulder may be provided with an opening 43, shown in dotted lines in FIG. 1, to which the inner end of the cable may be fastened so that said cable may be wound around the wall 4 with the desired number of convolutions.

I do not desire to limit myself to the precise details of construction and arrangement herein shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications may be made therein without departing from the essential features of my invention, as defined in the appended claim.

I claim:

1. A cable reel comprising a cylindrical main housing provided with a rear wall; a peripheral wall portion substantially at right angles to said rear wall; peripheral flange shoulders extending outwardly from said rear wall and from the front end of said peripheral wall portion, said cylindrical main housing being open at its front portion; a removable front cover for effecting closure of said open side of said main housing; aligned bearing openings formed in said rear Wall and said front cover; an arbor, the opposite outer ends of which are adapted to be journaled in said bearing openings in said rear wall and said front cover; a groove with a retaining snap ring therein at each outer end of said arbor for preventing axial displacement of said arbor when in position, and for maintaining said cover in closed position, said snap rings,

respectively, bearing against the outer surfaces of said rear wall and said cover; a helically wound power spring, having three intermediate widely spaced coils between closely wound coils at the inner and outer ends of said Spring, positioned within said main housing, the inner end of which spring is turned back to form a hook which is adapted to engage a shoulder formed on said arbor; an abutment formed on the inner surface of said peripheral wall portion; the outer end of said helically wound spring being turned back to form a hook which is adapted to engage said abutment; and means in said flange adapted to secure the inner end of a flexible cable adapted to be wound around the outer surface of said peripheral wall portion, said cable being prevented from 4 axial displacement by being positioned between said flanges at the front and rear of said main housing.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 681,864 9/1901 Wallace et al. 1,182,261 5/1916 Foothorap 242-107 X 2,742,320 4/1956 Grise 242107 X 2,744,788 5/1956 Grise 242-107 2,990,132 6/1961 Mills 242l07.7 3,249,319 5/1966 Wasson 242-96 WILLIAM S. BURDEN, Primary Examiner. 

